Touch the Treasure
Mark 6: 53, 56 (NKJ) When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there. Wherever He entered, into villages, cites, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well. John 1: 14 – (AMP) And the Word of God (Christ) became flesh and lived among us; and we actually saw His glory, glory as belongs to the only begotten Son of the Father, the Son who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, full of grace and truth (absolutely free of deception). The word touch can be demonstrated in multiple ways, in fact Webster’s has 63 definitions of touch. In everyday occurrences, we probably demonstrate many of the examples mentioned in the dictionary. We will not touch on those, but we will take it to a deeper meaning than Webster did in his dictionary. An obvious touch that we would try to avoid would be, touching a live electrical wire, red flaming fire, scalding water, and we could name many more. Throughout a day, however; we are usually oblivious to our touch, we touch objects and people and never say, “I just touched that book, keyboard, steering wheel, pen, pencil, badge….”, because it is just regular routine. Of course, there is an intentional touch with those we loveJ. From our biblical reference, we see people coming to Jesus with intentionality with their touch, wanting to touch the hem of His garment. The word touch in the scripture in Mark, means more that an oblivious, routine touch – it was an intentional touch of faith to obtain the miracle they so desperately needed. The word touch in the Greek Dictionary, used in the setting in scripture, clearly describes a touch with divine purpose that would kindle faith to believe– touching Jesus, the Living Word of God! Looking at the Greek meaning for touch from Mark 6:56, we discover the deeper meaning of the word touch, than is understood from the English language. It is the word, hapto, which means to fasten to, to adhere to, to set on fire, to kindle, to cling to. So, from this Greek meaning, we can say, the people were desiring to fasten their grip onto Jesus, to adhere to Him, to become kindled in their faith with a fire from God to believe by faith for their miracle. The people stepped out by faith to touch Jesus, the Messiah, believing for their miracle. It was not the garment that had the anointing and power to heal, but the One wearing it. Jesus, the Word that became human, walked among them. The people touching the garment that Jesus wore, had a touch of faithto receive the delivering power of Jesus. As a born-again believer, through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirt, that same power can dwell in us too. The Holy Spirit illuminates our hearts, reveals Jesus to us in the Word of God, and then faith is ignited in us as we hear what the Spirit reveals to us. Romans 10:17 says, Faith comes by hearing, and hearing the Word of God. We touch Jesus, all His attributes, in the revealed Word of God. But we must open the Word of God daily to hear the Word spoken to us by the Holy Spirit; if we do not read the Word of God, we will not have the touch of faith for our daily needs. For example, if we have a treasure chest sitting on a shelf with Treasures for Life engraved on the outside, and we had been told the blessings awaiting us when we dig into the chest, but all we do is consistently think about opening the chest. We hear others’ stories about the wonderful treasures, but never open it for ourselves, then our life will not have the touch from knowing the Word of God that illuminates faith from fastening our grip on the treasures from His Word. We will not experience the magnificent treasures in the Word, when revealed by the Holy Spirit, that have the power to kindle our hearts to abide in the touch with Jesus. So, today and every day, open the Word of God, touch Jesus, the Word, for the long awaiting miracle, and the touch of His treasure will be sweeter than life. Psalm 119:162 says, I rejoice as Your Word, as one who finds great treasure.
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James 4:7-8 – Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you We have all been to special events and see labels on chairs or tables, that say “RESERVED”, with the understanding that someone that is honored and respected has a special seat. The event can completely fill to maximum capacity, but the RESERVED seats will be empty until filled by the person of honor. As a believer, the Lord Jesus Christ wants RESERVED seating in our hearts, we must make that a choice, and the Holy Spirit helps us RESERVE our heart for Jesus. Because He loves us so much, Jesus wants to occupy all our heart --- RESERVED seating for Him. We are not to have a divided heart with RESERVED seating for Jesus, and with RESERVED seating for all our own desires, opinions, and foolish ways, that would not honor and glorify Him. When we RESERVE all our heart for the Word of God, the Holy Spirit will occupy, and Jesus will be our King. If we choose to RESERVE our hearts for Jesus, the Word of God, then we are allowing His Word to reign in our lives. So, when our heart is RESERVED for Christ, it is occupied by Him, and the Spirit of God will empower us in thought, word, and deed to leave all rights RESERVED for the KING. Let’s be diligent to make reservations for Jesus, all the time, by sitting with Him -- studying the Word, praying the Word, and declaring the Word over our lives. And we must not forget gathering in a small group for Bible study. In the RESERVED place with Jesus, He speaks to us His plans, purposes, and visions for our lives. The Word will guide us out of valleys unto the mountain tops. We will never know Jesus, the Word, if we never RESERVE special seating for Him -- time with Him, the Word. The Shunamite woman (II Kings 4:8-41) created a room in her home that she and her husband RESERVED for the Prophet Elisha. Elisha was a prophet that spoke the inspired Word of God, He spoke a message from God. When a tragedy happened with her son, she knew where to go for the miracle - the room RESERVED where the prophet stayed, “the Word of God.” She returned to the Word of God – the RESERVED place where she would receive her miracle! Do we have room in our house for the Word of God? We too, need to be diligent to keep our hearts RESERVED for Jesus, the Word, then we go sit with Jesus for wisdom and revelation for our life’s situations. We will sit with Him in the secret place of His heart, the Word. We open our hearts to Him -All RIGHTS RESERVED! Revelation 3:20 – Behold, I stand at the door (of your heart) and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. From the Inside Out
Ephesians 6: 10 In conclusion, be strong in the Lord (be empowered through your union with Him); draw your strength from Him (that strength which His boundless might provides.) AMP John 15: 1-2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away (lifts up); and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit]. AMP The task before me presented a challenge as I gripped the long-handled cutters. The limbs of the mature plants were connected to the trunk of the azalea but the growth was sparse. My job was before me! I cut the limbs of the mature azalea plants, then trimmed and trimmed again, and took a deep breath to continue! Talking to myself I spoke, “Keep going Ann and finish this task.” This girl was determined not to stop until the job was complete! Even though I knew my arms and shoulders would ache the next day, the strong commitment of completion continued! The pain of cutting the thick, mature branches would not stop me from finishing the job of pruning because the benefits will be worth all the attention given to the plants! The plants are now beautiful from inside out! Jesus gave His life for us so we can live on this earth in union with Him bearing godly fruit. The Spirit of God dwelling in us draws us to a place to remain in union with Jesus; He draws us from the inside out. Our “branch” or life may drift off into our own desires and distractions, but God is still waiting on our return. We need to learn sooner than later, that our strength comes from our relationship with Jesus not the things that we sometimes long for and learn they never satisfy. Jesus, the Word, is our only satisfaction in life. The union with Jesus is an abiding place—a place where we confidently stay, no matter the circumstances of life. Jesus likens us to a branch and Him as the Vine, and we are to stay in union, connected to the Vine. If broken off from the Vine we will not be productive, but start drifting away from Jesus. If we become a drooping branch, the Holy Spirit is within us to lift us up to connect and reconnect to the Vine with the strength of God. We must always remember the Holy Spirit leads, guides, and woos us into loving obedience. Our life, our branch, must yield to Him. Then we will continue bearing the fruit that pleases Him, and if we are bearing good fruit He continues to give us TLC (tender loving care) to bear even greater fruit. No matter in the valleys or mountaintops, we can stay in union with Christ with supernatural resilient strength for our Savior, the Living Vine, continues to pour life into our life. The heavenly benefit is that we will bear godly fruit because we stay vitally united to Jesus, the Word of God. The union with Him creates a repentant heart before God. Therefore, we can conclude that circumstances do not transform lives, but the power of the word of God revealed to us by the Holy Spirit is what brings the godly fruit in our lives. Adverse circumstances can reveal the need to get reconnected or deepen our connection with Jesus, but without staying connected to Jesus in our desperate times, we can become bitter, not better! When we give our life to Jesus as our Lord and Savior, His Spirit will empower us from the inside out to be in union with Jesus, but we have to allow the Spirit full control. Then we will have an inner strength and godly fruit that comes from within as we stay in union with Jesus, the Vine. John 15:4 Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me. (AMP) Pathway to Victory
Psalm 77: 19 Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters- a pathway no one knew was there! Psalm 119:130 The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple. Car wash time! It may sound silly, but I used to get a little nervous going through the car wash. You cannot see the path, but the guy working at the car wash gives you directional hand motionsJ. One particular day while I was trying to get in the rudders, he gave me the stop hand motions too soon; I was struggling. After walking to my window, he motioned to me to roll the window down. Surprisingly, he told me to lean over while he put his hands on my steering wheel saying, “Put your foot on the gas.” Last set of directions, “Put your car in neutral, and do not touch the steering wheel until you see the green light!” Needless to say, I was a little embarrassed, but mission accomplished! My problem with the car wash was believing that the unseen path before me could be found. Do we do the same thing when believing God for an open pathway, a way we do not see? Psalm 77:19 is referring to God opening up the Red Sea; the path was not seen until the WayMaker revealed the way. Moses told the people to stand still and see the salvation of God, which He will accomplish for you today (Exodus 14: 13). In Hebrew the word stand means to continue to remain, to place oneself as to stay, simply put, do not waver at the circumstances that seems to be overtaking us. Stand is not an idle word, but requires faith in action as we stand in the authority of the Word of God. As we walk with Jesus, we search the scriptures for Truth about our problem or situation we are facing. When the Holy Spirit enlightens the scriptures to us, those scripture verses become what we pray over the situation. We declare the word, not the problem. We continue standing, remaining, as we speak the word against the destructive power of the “Egyptians.” We speak in the authority the Father gave us through Christ Jesus against the forces of darkness, not people. Moses told them to stand still and they would see, discern with their own eyes, His salvation for them. In Hebrew salvation means deliverance, victory, prosperity, health, and welfare! The Truth of the Word of God will empower us to stand with faith until we see His salvation come to us. While standing with faith, we look with expectancy to see God’s hand make a pathway that cannot be seen. As with the car wash story, we must allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in the Word of God in order to find the pathway that is already there. Through the Word of God, He will show us understanding and give divine enlightenment for the way to go. He is to be in control, not us. Remember the Father so loves us, and always wants us to know His ways; His pathway is the divine order! Declaration Prayer: Father, I come to you in the Name of Jesus, and yield my life to the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, enlighten my heart to the revelation of the Word of God for the situation I am facing, and with the understanding of the Word of God I will confess the solution, not the problem. I will continue to declare words of faith and refuse to let what I am facing be the thermostat of my life; Your Word guides my steps and thoughts! Even before I see the pathway open, I stand in faith in Jesus Name and praise you for the miracle! Holy Spirit I pray according to Psalm 19:14 that the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart will be pleasing to you. As You guide, I will follow you onto the pathway that You have opened! Moving Forward
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